Aid to the Church in Need donates 70 million euros in 137 countries

Beneficiaries who received the largest sums were located most notably in Sudan, where projects for more than 1 million euros were carried out in 2004; Ukraine (about 4.6 million euros); Cuba (780,000 euros); and Vietnam (more than 850,000 euros).

Three types of projects were carried out in Russia. About 1.2 million euros were directed toward projects of the Roman Catholic Church in Russia, 800,000 euros were given to projects of the Orthodox Church, and another 1.2 million euros funded inter-confessional initiatives.

Pastoral urgencies that received most assistance included the construction and restoration of places of worship, seminaries and convents (27.1 percent), Catholic-inspired media (17.3 percent) and theological education (17.2 percent), including scholarships to pontifical universities.

The distribution of religious printed material, mostly biblical texts called God Speaks to His Children, ranked fifth at 13.2 percent. More than 1.5 million copies were distributed in 2004, bringing the total circulation to more than 40 million copies since 1978.